***
Light brighter than even that of the cocoon burst forth, and
Tom shot straight up from the reclined position in which he found himself,
taking a deep gasp of air that smelled medicinal in nature. As the world returned to more natural shades
of light, he could see he rested in a hospital room, which explained the
odor. He turned his head towards the
window and saw a recognizable skyline, so knew he had returned to his own city,
but in turning his head, also realized his hair was now considerably longer
than it had ever been previously, reaching partway down his back.
Further examination revealed that he indeed had not returned
to his body, the most obvious difference aside from the hair taking the form of
his now well-developed breasts. He took
a deep breath and carefully started removing the array of tubes and wires from
his new form, pleased to feel no ill effects.
The body certainly seemed otherwise healthy, but in attempting to lift
himself off the bed to walk to the door, he collapsed right to the ground. Okay, then--healthy, but with atrophied
muscles. Tom’s further attempts to move
back to the bed or out of the room proved unsuccessful. Before long, a nurse rushed in, panic written
clearly on her face.
“What happened?” he said, figuring it best to play the role,
then raised his hand to his mouth; getting used to hearing that as his new
voice would take some getting used to.
“Good question, miss.” She laughed nervously, helping Tom
back onto the bed. “Sorry. I mean, you’ve been in a vegetative state for
quite some time, no one thought you would ever come out of it.”
“My family?”
“Can’t say, when you were admitted, you didn’t have any
identification on you, and your fingerprints didn’t come up in any
records. First Jane Doe we’ve had in a
while. I’m sure we could get you in
touch with someone if there’s someone you’d like to contact.”
“Lisa Dabber.”
“What’s her relation to you?”
“She’s a friend.”
“No family?”
“None I can remember.
Honestly, I don’t remember much.”
“Well, that’s certainly understandable. Unfortunate, but at least you’re back among
the living again.”
“Very true.”
“You have a name that I can update your records with?”
“To-” Tom caught himself.
“Toni. I think. Maybe Tina.”
“Okay Toni Maybe Tina, you hang in there, we’ll see if we
can contact Lisa for you, I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.”
Or baffled. Tom
thought, but felt certain she would come.
“Me too.”
The nurse left, and over the next few hours doctors came in
and out of the room, performing tests and taking samples, but eventually felt
confident enough to verbally confirm his clean bill of health, disused muscles
aside. Left alone to his own devices, he
wondered how long it would take to get back on his feet and beyond that, how
long it would take to get used to living on this side of the gender line. The explorations he’d done of his new form on
his own had provided the interesting experience. He just hoped he’d get to share it with Lisa,
but didn’t want to make any assumptions given the bizarre situation they found
themselves in. He allowed himself to
drift off, and woke to the familiar, if uncertain, voice of Lisa later in the
afternoon.
“Hello? Toni? Tina?”
“Lisa.” Tom said, smiling as he sat up and rubbed the sleep
from his eyes. She looked tired, sadness
permeating her body language. “Good to
see you again.”
“I don’t think I know you.
How is it you know me?”
“Oh, right!” Tom
raised his palm to his face. “This is
going to sound crazy, or maybe not depending on if you remember anything, but I’m
Tom.”
“That’s not even funny.
He’s dead.”
“I assure you, I’m not.
I saved you from the ones who had taken you. Remember, you’d gone to talk to a priest,
then your friend Megan? I don’t know
what happened here after I was loaded into that semi, but I saved you.”
“How do you know all that?
The doctors said you’ve been comatose for over two months. There’s no way you could know.”
“Unless I’m telling the truth. How else would I know about the owl that
found its way into our hotel room in Barcelona?
The one that kept hooting every time somebody on the episode of Doctor
Who we were watching called out for the Doctor?”
“No way...this is freaky, Tom.”
“Well, it’s certainly interesting, I’ll give you that.”
“Oh, I’ll show you interesting when you get out of here.”
She said through tears while simultaneously trying to shoot him a seductive
glance.
The odd combination made Tom burst into laughter.
“Well, that certainly went better than I’d expected it to.”
“Shush.”
Lisa bent down and planted a kiss on his lips, which he
returned in kind. When she broke it off,
she playfully squeezed one of Tom’s new parts, triggering a rush of pleasure.
“You better get through physical therapy and on your feet
quickly. I know I’ve got some things to
teach you.” This time her wink succeeded.
“I don’t think I’d need to be on my feet for the ones you’re
thinking of.”
“Very true.” She laughed, then leaned in again for another
kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“See ya later, Tina!”
“That’s going to take some getting used to.”
Lisa ruffled his hair and seemed to skip out of the
room. The nurse saw her happiness and
smiled herself as she reentered the room.
“A good reunion, I take it?”
“The best. Now let’s
see about getting me walking!”
***
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